Uncovered - A Ghost Hunt Fanfiction
by caitybug13
Summary: After Naru and Lin decide to stay and continue Shibuya Psychic Research, they are soon given a tough case; A case that is linked to Mai's past, and the secret's she's been keeping from SPR. Mai kept her past in the dark for a reason, but she can't hide it forever.
1. Chapter 1

A/N You might find some small details have been altered from the original storyline but, unless I make a point to say otherwise, assume it's all the same as what happened in the original manga.

Chapter One - New feelings, New Case, and the Same Old Tea

Mai walked through the doors of SPR (Shibuya Psychic Research) at 7:00 am sharp, just on time. She sighed in relief as she set her things down and watched the minute hand tick to 7:01. Just as the breath had left her lungs a familiar shadow came into view.

"You're late." Naru said. Mai turned and gave him a death glare, but she was secretly relieved. It appeared everything was back to normal, at least for the time being. Naru walked across the floor and into his office. "Mai?" he said as he sat down, but it didn't sound like a question. "Tea." Naru said, and Mai said mockingly at the same time under her breath.

"Got it." She called. There was no response from Naru's office as Mai went to heat up water for Naru's usual tea.

It had only been a few weeks since they had found Gene, Naru's twin's, body. Naru had left Tokyo for Britain but had quickly returned. No one, not even Mai, was certain as to why Naru had returned so suddenly. He said something about being bored or something or other, but Mai didn't quite buy it. Her gut told her there was more to it than that, but she wasn't going to push it.

A part of her wished Naru had stayed away a little while longer, to give her a chance to sort out her feelings. She had come to accept that she had feelings for Naru a long time ago, but that was before she realized the Naru of her dreams, was actually his twin brother. Now she wasn't sure.

She knew she had cared for Gene, and she had mourned a little after finding out he was already dead. What she didn't know was whether all her feelings were because of Gene, or if a little bit of Naru was actually mixed up in there somewhere. After all, why did she still get that fluttery feeling in her stomach when she thought of Naru if she didn't like him?

Mai sighed and poured Naru's tea into a cup. It didn't even matter if Naru wasn't interested in _her._ And Mai didn't even know if Naru _could_ be interested in a girl, let alone interested in Mai.

After knocking lightly on Naru's door and getting permission to enter, Mai brought the tea to Naru, nearly tripping on her way to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Naru gave Mai a blank look. Her face reddened and she could only imagine what was going through his head. "Stupid," he muttered.

She set the cup down with a clank and, just as she was seriously considering tearing into him for his comment, there was a knock at the door.

Mai hurried to the door, leaving Naru in his office with no sign that he was planning to get up, and opened the door. A young woman, barely older than Mai herself, stood on the other side. She had dark brown hair that just reached her shoulders in layered waves and sad blue eyes.

"I hope I've come to the right place," the girl began, "I need help. I think I have ghost. And I think the ghost wants to kill me."

Mai smiled sadly, "You've come to the right place alright." She opened the door wider and let the girl come in and take a seat. "Let me get my boss."

It looked like they had a new case, and from the sounds of things, it was a big one.

A/N

**Help! **_Guys, I am doing a school project and I need your guys' help. There is a link to the survey in the summary of this story and on my profile page._ _If you have an extra ten minutes and you care about me :( please take this survey.** It's for a good cause! **And you can even share the link with other people to take :)_

Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

***I do not own Ghost Hunt and all of its awesomeness***

Chapter Two- The Forgotten Past

-The Night Before-

_There was a crash, followed by a girl's scream. Mai immediately jumped to her feet and went running towards the noise. It didn't surprise her that she had been laying on the floor of a strange room, nor did it surprise her that when she entered the room where the noise had come from, objects were sailing through the air, floating, as if attached to puppet strings. Something felt familiar about everything around her, eerily familiar._

_She assumed it was one of her dreams, but there was something different about this one. It felt almost as if she had dreamt this very same dream before, but had forgotten all of the details. Sort of like déjà vu. _

_Mai took a step back and watched as a baseball flew past and crashed into the wall beside her. Her breath caught. That had almost been her head._

_Her eyes trailed to the left and she let out a heavy breath. It was as if Mai had no control over her thoughts or actions. Her mouth formed the words and she called out "dad?!" when her eyes found the crumpled form of a man up against the wall. She ran to him and bent to expertly check his pulse and breathing. There was none. This man was dead. A shard of glass had nearly severed his head from his body._

_Mai didn't know what she was doing, or why she felt everything inside of her break. Did she know this man? Why did this death seem tragic to her, but completely unsurprising?_

_Mai turned and wasn't surprised to see the figure of a young girl standing in the middle of the room, objects swirling around the girl's head as if she were producing her own personal tornado. The girl was sobbing, letting out loud wailing cries._

I'm sorry,_ Mai heard the voice, but the girl's mouth never moved. The words sounded as if they were coming from her own head, but she recognized almost immediately that the words belonged to the girl. _I didn't mean to. Please help me… I didn't mean to.

_Mai stepped closer, warning bells going off in her head. Something was really dangerous about this girl, but this was her sister. She had to be there for her sister, no matter what. She had promised._

_And Mai realized then that the girl _was_ her sister. Not only that, but this was her twin, her other half. The girl's face mirrored a younger version of herself, but her eyes were haunted with things Mai knew she would never understand. As Mai approached her sister, something pushed her away, a force similar to heavy wind. But this force had no physical properties, and it made it more and more difficult to get close to her sister._

_With each step she took her thoughts battled each other._

She killed our father.

She's my sister.

But she's a murderer.

She had no control.

She could kill you.

I promised to protect her.

No one can protect her.

_Mai stopped in front of her twin. _That's not true, _she thought. _You know how to protect her, you just don't want to do it._ She looked into the broken eyes of her sister and knew it was time, time to tell the truth, time to step up and do her part. Protecting her twin was more important than anything. It was more important than her own happiness, or their need to stay together._

_Mai wrapped her arms around the small frame of her younger sister. Even if they were only a few minutes apart, Mai would still always be the oldest. Her sister's sobs shook both of their bodies and Mai stroked her hair._

_"I'll protect you. I promise," she whispered, "Everything will be okay."_

_Mai stayed with her until their mother came home, and until her twin was sound asleep._

_She then explained everything to their mother, all of the secrets she had kept, and the plan to save what was left of her family._

_Her mother reluctantly agreed._

_That would be the beginning of everything._

Mai woke with a start, jumping up in bed and gasping for breath. The last words of her dream echoed in her head. "That would be the beginning of everything," as if a narrator were telling a story in her head.

Mai bit her lip, not at all sure what to think of her dream. It had disturbed her, the way her family's past had gotten mixed up with all the supernatural stuff she dealt with for work.

She took a deep breath. _None of it was true. None of it was real, _she told herself. _It was all just a dream. I really creepy, really realistic, dream._ And if it was _just_ a dream, than she knew she shouldn't dwell on it any longer.

Looking to her left, she caught a glimpse of the face of her clock. She sighed. Four more hours before she had to get up for work. It would be the first day back to work with Naru. She needed all of the sleep she could get before dealing with that stress.

Lying back down, Mai forced herself into a restless slumber for the rest of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three- The Case of the Haunted Laboratory

The gang arrived quickly. Mai was glad for it. She didn't want to spend any more time alone with Naru, especially since Lin was nowhere to be found.

Where was Lin, you ask? Mai didn't know due to a certain narcissistic person who refused to answer, or even acknowledge, her questions. She thought she was relieved to find the same old Naru when she came to work today, but now the "same old Naru" was making her angry.

What better thing to do but glare and pout like a child until the gang arrived? Mai laughed to herself.

The woman, their newest client, had explained in very short terms what was happening, and now Mai was busy unloading the van and carrying equipment up to their new base. Thankfully, it was still morning, because the location of their newest case gave Mai the chills like she had never had before. It was creepy to say the least.

A large stone gate enclosed an imposing, mansion-like, building that was apparently a scientific laboratory. The inside was neglected enough for one to think the place might be rundown, but clean enough that Mai wasn't sure if they weren't still using the building for some sort of experimentation. The women who had asked them to come had given very little information, just that no one would be in the building for the time being, except maybe her, the owner of the building, and a "close friend."

A shiver went down Mai's spine. She already felt like something was off about the case, but she had been the one who insisted on taking it right away. Naru had almost turned the young woman away when Mai had interrupted. Naru hadn't argued with her, which was weird, when she told the women they would take the case immediately, but he had given her a look that seemed to question her reasoning. He wasn't the only one wondering why she had taken the case so suddenly. Mai herself didn't even know.

As Mai was hefting a heavy box out of the van, she heard gravel turn and smiled excitedly. She hadn't seen the gang since Naru had left Japan for his home. She couldn't wait to see all of them. Especially Monk. She had missed that make-shift family of hers, and now that she saw them she didn't know how she had survived those three long weeks without them all.

"Hey kid," Monk placed his hand on her head and Mai couldn't help but flash a grin. Monk took the heavy box from her and groaned, already heading into the building as he complained about how heavy it was.

Mai greeted the rest of her friends and, just like that, everything seemed to be back to normal.

Of course, Mai knew is wasn't all back to normal. Not after everything that had happened, but, for now, she could pretend like it was. She knew that, eventually, she would have to confront her own feelings for Naru, that she would have to tell him what she felt, and that she would likely have her heart broken. She knew that, after that happened, there would be no going back, that Naru would leave, and, with him, the rest of the gang.

Then, everything would be back to the way it was almost two years ago. She would be alone, trying to pretend she wasn't so lonely. Except this time she hadn't been left and broken by one person, but by an entire group.

Her dream came back to her again and she allowed herself to think momentarily about her sister. The sister who had left her during the hardest of times.

Maybe her dream last night had only been metaphorical, a mix-up of all the emotions she held for her sister and dramatized in a strange dream. Obviously her sister hadn't killed her father. Her father had died from sickness or… something. Mai wasn't really sure, actually. She didn't remember her father all that much anymore. But she was certain that if she had seen her sister kill her father, she would have remembered _that_.

No… Mai had bad feelings towards her twin, but not because she had done anything that horrendous. Her bad feelings simply stemmed from her sister leaving her at the worst time possible, just when she needed the support of her other half. Just when she had no other family left.

But now she had another family, and she wasn't going to waste any time with them, even if they will likely leave too. She had learned that family was too valuable to take for granted.

Mai had just finished bringing in all of the equipment, and just began setting up the base when Lin arrived completing their group of Naru, Lin, Mai, Monk, John, and Ayako. Masako was busy with her show and wouldn't be able to help with the case for the time being.

The group crowded around. Ayako made herself comfortable in a chair, Monk standing beside her and John next to him. Lin took his usual seat with his laptop open and fingers perched on the keyboard. Naru stood at the head of the group, claiming all attention for himself, and Mai naturally gravitated near him.

Oliver Davis, also known as Naru the Narcissist, tapped his finger against the top of the table while he thought. Only Mai noticed this, as the rest of the group was busy quietly arguing in the background. Finally, Naru spoke.

"Lin, the schematics."

Lin nodded and pulled out a large piece of paper that was rolled into a long tube. Naru took it and unrolled it on top of the table. It was the entire layout of the building.

"Where'd you get that!" Mai exclaimed. "I thought the client said it was lost in a fire a long time ago!"

"It was easy enough to find, Mai. You're just stupid. "Mai scowled. Was it just her or was he calling her stupid more than usual these days? That was twice today, and the day was only half over. "We'll need cameras set up where activity was most commonly reported," Naru continued, "And audio. Mai, I can trust you can handle that?"

Mai nodded and gave a small salute with her fingers. "Yes sir!" She smiled, "but shouldn't you catch everyone up on what's going on?"

"Yeah, Naru. You called us out here and didn't even tell us what the case was about." Monk crossed his arms in front of his chest and rocked back on his heels.

"Mai," Naru turned to look down at her, "tell them. You're the one who wanted this case." Then Naru crossed his own arms as well.

Mai rolled her eyes and sighed. She was in a room that felt filled with testosterone and stubbornness. Thankfully, Naru was the only narcissist in the room. His narcissism alone was more than enough for Mai. She didn't need any more.

"A woman came in this morning. She was really anxious and upset, and told me that she thought she was being haunted, and that the ghost was trying to kill her. After I sat her down and got Naru she explained that she worked in a science lab, this laboratory, and that there had always been some weird things that went on in the building. Recently, it all got worse. According to her, after the phenomena increased, a woman, a coworker of our client's, disappeared."

The gang looked at her. Finally, Ayako spoke, "That's it? She didn't say what activity made her think it was haunted, or what makes her think it wants to kill her? What about the girl who disappeared, any more information on her?"

Mai shook her head.

"She refused to give us any more information. We don't know the name of the girl." Naru said and then turned to Lin. "Did you find what I asked you to look for?"

"There was nothing in any recent news, social media, or blogs that reported a recent disappearance of a young woman in the area."

_So that's where Lin was, _Mai thought.

"Then we have nothing to even go on." Monk said. "We don't even know if there is even a haunting in this building."

"And if the client won't speak to us anymore, than how are we suppose to help her?" John looked genuinely concerned about the issue, and his face reflected what Mai felt.

"There isn't enough information to build a case on." Naru admitted, "And we don't have Masako's skill to fall back on. Mai insisted on taking the case, and she is the only one present who can readily use psychic abilities. This case will rest on her shoulders."

The gang looked at Mai skeptically, all accept Naru, who seemed to shockingly encouraging her with his eyes. Mai felt the weight and the responsibility heavy on her shoulders, but she straightened her shoulders. "There _is_ something more to this case. I can feel it."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four - A Deathly Experience

Three days passed with absolutely no activity. Naru, Mai, Lin, and the rest of the gang scoured through videos, audio, and research, only to find... nothing. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened in the laboratory, and to Mai it seemed the only scary thing in the building was Naru and his cold disappointment.

It wasn't long before everyone was discouraged, and even Mai was doubting herself. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe there was nothing in this laboratory but dust and strange equipment.

Most of the gang was ready to go home, but Mai still refused. Despite her doubts, something in her gut told her they needed to stay.

The only thing that kept everyone there was Naru's surprisingly consistent faith in Mai's ability. But even he seemed slightly frustrated with the lack of supernatural activity. Nevertheless, he continued the investigation.

On the third day of their stay Mai found herself coming to Naru for his opinion. As Naru watched another video from one of the many rooms they were taping, Mai brought him a cup of tea and set it down in front of him. She was strangely impressed with the amount of effort Naru was putting into this case, especially since he hadn't wanted to take it up originally. Mai wasn't sure what was going on with Naru lately, but something had slightly shifted in their relationship and Naru was treating her a little bit differently than normal.

Naru had slight bags under his eyes as he looked over at the cup of tea and then glanced at Mai. His eyes immediately went back to the video, but he spoke. "I didn't ask for tea."

Mai pursed her lips, a little uncomfortable. "I know, but I thought you might like some. You've been working extra hard lately."

"I wouldn't be if you hadn't volunteered us for the case, stupid."

Mai ignored the name-calling. Naru had been calling her stupid an excessive amount lately, so much so that, in the past few days, it had felt more like a nickname than an insult. That was another thing that was off about Naru lately.

"About that..." she trailed off, not sure what to say. Her pride was making her bite her tongue.

Naru looked over at her with the corner of his eye. "Say it."

"Well, umm... I've been thinking lately. I may have been wrong about this case. There hasn't been any activity or anything and, it just seems, maybe I was wrong to insist. Everybody has been here supporting me and my gut but I'm not sure anymore. There's probably not anything going on here."

Naru paused the video and leaned back in his chair. He stared straight forward, not looking at her. "Do you really believe that?"

"What?"

Naru shot her a look. "Yes or no. Do you really believe what you just said?"

Mai didn't have to think about it. She shook her head. Her gut still told her that something more was going on, and she couldn't help but believe what her gut said.

Naru turned back to his computer. "Mai, tea. It's gone cold." Mai smiled slightly. That was the end of that. Apparently, they were staying a little longer.

On the fourth day their client showed up, with two other people. The client, whose name was Keiko, introduced the two men with her. The older of the two she called Toshio and he smiled and bowed politely to the entire gang.

"Toshio is... an old friend. And this is Fumio-san, my boss." she gestured to the man on her left, who's blank expression never left his face as he tilted his head in a slight bow. The gang did so as well.

"It's nice to meet you." Mai said to the two new acquaintances.

"We don't intend to stay long." Keiko explained quickly. "We only wanted to finish up some work, and check in on how your investigation was doing while we were here."

Before Mai could respond, Naru was taking matters into his own hands. "Why don't we all go inside for a cup of tea? There are some questions I would like to discuss with you."

Keiko immediately froze, and seemed to open her mouth to deny Naru. Mai wondered what it was that Keiko so desperately wanted to hide from them that she would refuse to talk about the case. Before Keiko could turn Naru's proposition down though, her boss, Fumio, stopped her.

"That would be fine." Both Keiko and Toshio looked at their boss in shock, but quickly composed their features.

Neru led the entire group into one of the more comfortable of the building's rooms. The room reminded Mai of a large living room, or maybe a small waiting room. The three clients took their seats. Gesturing to Lin, probably to tell him to get his computer, Naru took a seat across from the client.

Mai rushed to the kitchen to collect tea. She knew Naru expected it from her, but she wanted to hurry. Whatever the group was going to tell them, she wanted to hear. Nevertheless, it took her nearly fifteen minutes to find the kitchen and prepare enough tea for everyone. The building was huge, and, on her way back, Mai found herself not at all where she meant to be.

Holding a tray full of cooling tea, Mai turned in a circle. She had somehow ended up in a hallway that seemed unfamiliar to her. She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there.

Hear the creaking of floorboards behind her, Mai turned around with a relieved expression on her face, expecting to find one of the members of SPR. Instead, what she found was all together different.

The tray of tea dropped to the floor, scalding Mai's bare legs. But Mai paid the burning sensation no attention. Her mind was on what was standing, or rather, floating, in front of her.

Mai let out a surprised scream.

Naru watched out of the corner of his eye as Mai left, probably to go get the tea for their clients. He was slightly disappointed that he hadn't gotten to annoy her by demanding his tea before she had gone to get it herself. Silently, he scolded himself. What was he thinking?

Naru turned to the three people in front of him, waiting until Lin was back, computer in hand, to lean back and begin his questioning.

"Explain exactly what happened here, miss Keiko, that makes you so certain the building is haunted, and that your life has been threatened."

Keiko exchanged a look, first with her boss and then with the "friend." She sighed.

"Our company deals with paranormal research. It's a small company, one very few people have heard of, but we are very knowledgeable in many aspects of paranormal research."

"My company deals solely in psychic abilities, PK, and the such. We have helped many people deal with their abilities, and learned a great deal about how to help hone psychic powers," Fumio-san added.

"Nevertheless, we do not deal with ghosts." Keiko took over again after her bosses int eruption. "We bought this building a little over two years ago, with the intention of expanding. We were not aware of any supernatural activity going on at this it soon became apparent that we were dealing with a spirit of some sort.

"There used to be another woman who worked with us. When we realized we had a ghost on our hands, she immediately wanted to go to a specialist. I talked Fumio-san out of it, insisting that this was the perfect opportunity for paranormal researchers to broaden the field of study. I wanted to study the activity and learn about the spirit as best as I could. I was not aware of the dangers, or that we had such a violent and powerful spirit on our hands."

Keiko stopped, and even Naru noticed how emotional she was getting. Whatever came next in the story upset her beyond the point of being able to speak,

Toshio continued the story, in a more blunt fashion.

"Keiko's friend disappeared one day. She was in the basement one moment, working on some paperwork, and the next, she was gone."

Naru leaned forward and stared at his entwined fingers. "How is it you know she didn't simply leave?"

"She would have had to pass by one of us in order to get out of the basement, let alone leave the building. And," Keiko sniffled, "We have security cameras set up at all of the exits. She wasn't caught on tape leaving the building."

Keiko paused again, took a deep breath and added, "Plus, I've seen her ghost."

A scream echoed through the building. Keiko jumped and Naru froze. He knew that voice. Mai...

Lin, Naru, and Keiko stood suddenly, hurrying towards the sound of Mai's screaming, Naru in the lead, Lin, Naru, and Keiko ran into the rest of SPR, minus Mai, in the hallway. They looked as surprised by the sudden screams as Naru was.

"What happened?" Naru demanded. Monk shook his head, indicating that he knew no more than Naru did. Without hesitation, Naru turned on his heel and hurried toward where he thought he had heard the scream, the rest of the team behind him.

Naru stopped suddenly at the end of the hall, staring at Mai, who stood perfectly calm, watching the group with an unfamiliar look on her face. Something felt off, but Naru couldn't put his finger on it. He stepped closer to Mai.

"Mai, are you alright?" Monk asked. Mai's eyes flitted briefly over to Monk, and then returned to meet Naru's.

"She must be warned." Mai said.

And with a flicker she disappeared, as if she hadn't ever been there at all. Naru's heart dropped. What he had just seen was a ghost; a ghost that looked identical to Mai.

Naru couldn't move. His body was frozen, trying to process what he had just seen.

If that was a ghost, and it looked exactly like Mai, then... that could only mean one thing.

Naru took off running.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - A Strange Occurrence

Mai heard the crash of the tea tray hitting the ground, and felt the scalding water against her bare legs, but her eyes remained on the sight in front of her. A scream rang out around her and it was only after the echoes had faded that she realized it was her own scream.

"Why?!" The voice was harsh and gravely, and spit out like it left a bad taste in the ghost's mouth. "Why did you do it. You have to pay for what you did, you monster!"

Mai's breath caught in her throat. Before she could even think about running, she was flung against a nearby wall. She gritted her teeth at the crack of her head against the wall.

The ghost approached slowly, moving his legs as if he were walking although his feet never touched the ground. Mai attempted to get up and run, but she found that she couldn't move from her place pinned against the wall.

_No,_ she thought, _please no. Someone help me! _But she couldn't seem to force her mouth open to call for help. Her breathing picked up. _I'm going to die, _she thought. And she knew deep in her gut that, if she didn't get help, she would.

She leaned back into the wall as the ghost got closer, until she could feel his warm, rotten breath on her face. He was definitely a man under all of the blood and misshapen bones, although nearly unrecognizable as human.

Anger radiated from the ghost so strongly that Mai could almost see it, but the emotion quickly dissipated into something that better resembled disappointment. He pressed his palm against Mai's lower throat and squeezed just enough that Mai couldn't seem to get as much air as her body demanded. "Look at what you did to me! Look at what you did to _us_!"

Mai shook her head, trying to tell the ghost that she hadn't done anything, but it was futile. Her lungs were burning with the lack of oxygen and black spots clouded her vision. "Please..." she croaked out with the last bit of air in her lungs. Either the ghost didn't hear her, or he didn't care.

The next thing Mai knew, everything was black.

Monk felt his heart stop for a moment when Mai's form flickered, and then disapeared. His mind couldn't make sense of it. The girl was definitely Mai. She was the same age, with the same short brown hair and rounded face. There was no question in Monk's mind, the girl who just disapeared out of thin air was his Mai.

As he was trying to process the information, and come to terms with what this meant, he felt Naru freeze beside him. It tool Naru a second less to react and to race down the hall in the same general direction as where they had heard her scream, but Monk was right behind him, and the rest of the gang followed close behind.

Monk nearly ran into Naru's back when Naru stopped suddenly in the middle of an empty room.

"Naru... what are you..." but Monk trailed off at the look on Naru's face. It was a strange occurence indeed to see any sort of emotion pass Naru's face, other than smug satisfaction. But whatever Naru was feeling now was too deep and too huge for him to conceal. His eyes were widened slighlty in horror, and there was a turn in his lips that hinted at desperation.

Monk followed his line of sight and gasped.

"Mai!" he yelled, rushing over to the limp and lifeess form laying on the ground.

Monk rolled the girl onto her back, pushing hair out of the way to see Mai's face, and then placed his fingers under her chin to try to find a pulse.

He could feel his eyes watering, but he pushed the tears back.

_No,_ he thought. He couldn't lose Mai. The group couldn't lose Mai. She was the glue that held them together.

Monk didn't know what Mai was to him, but he knew that he loved her. And not necessarily in a weird, romantic way. He just loved her, simple as that. He would be happy being whatever she needed him to be; brother, father, friend. He knew that, if given the choice, he would rather die than to see her hurt.

So, Mai _couldn't _die. It would ruin him. It would ruin everyone in the group.

Monk felt a sharp tug at his arm, and was pulled away from the lifeless Mai, only to be replaced by Naru. He appeared to be in better control over his emotions, but his mask was so thin that surely the whole group could see right through it.

Naru bent, placing his fingers on Mai's throat, trying to find a pulse, just as Monk had done. Naru's eyes hardened.

"Ayako." he snapped. The woman, who, up until then had been completely shell shocked, nodded and rushed to Mai's side.

"Ayako," Naru stopped her and she turned hesitantly toward the seventeen year old, "She cannot die."

Again, Ayako nodded, recognizing the barely concealed threat in his tone. She turned back to the young girl.

Monk was still frozen on the ground. He agreed with Naru. Mai cannot die.

But, he thought, it might be too late.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Coming Back

_"Look at what you did to me! Look at what you did to _us!"

The words twisted and warped themselves into Mai's head, almost as if they were a living, breathing thing, smothering her from the inside out. Had she hurt somebody? She couldn't quite remember, but her gut was telling her yes, she had done something terrible. Something unforgivable.

But, what had she done exactly? She couldn't recall her own name, let alone what horrific thing she had done to deserve this awful fate. Her lungs burned, as if someone had poured acid down her throat, and her head felt heavier than it should. She felt suspended in a never ending death, caught on some sort of edge, as if she wasn't quite dead yet, but wasn't alive either.

"_Look at what you did.." _The words pierced her again. Again, she asked herself what it was that she did. If only she could remember...

Images flashed through her mind. First, a dark haired boy with piercing blue eyes and a scowl that made her heart flutter, than a series of images containing the faces of people who made her feel warm. It all seemed so achingly familiar. If this was the life she had lived before this moment, than Mai knew she could be happy.

But the warm images were soon interrupted by something darker, and more sinister. A picture of her own face, reflecting horror. A grave. A woman with dying eyes. A man, bloody and lifeless. Her own hands, soaked in blood.

_You killed them_

The thought struck her hard. _That_ is what she had done. _That _was the horrible deed she had committed that haunted her and strangled her and kept her trapped in this hell. She was a cold-hearted killer.

Mai settled back, accepting the torturous feeling inside of herself. After all, she deserved this fate.

...

Mai didn't know how much time passed until the pain began to lift. It could have been days, hours, or just mere seconds. All she knew was that, slowly, she could feel herself coming back into herself again. As if, until that moment, she hadn't quite existed. The pain edged away, and she was suddenly aware that she could feel her body again, move again.

A part of her wanted to hold on to the pain that had disappeared. It was a comfort, a reminder of the horrible thing she had done, and of what she deserved.

But, as the pain left her, her own awareness came back. She found herself opening her eyes and staring into an eterity of blank nothingness. It was pure white, all around her. She realized that this was more of a hell than any amount of pain could be. The pain she had felt only moment before was at least something. This was literally nothing.

At least, she thought it was nothing. Until a voice called out to her softly, so soft that it could have almost been a figment of her imagination. She stood uneasily and looked about her, finding nothing.

"Mai."

The voice was louder this time, and Mai turned quickly on her heal to find its source.

There. There, in the midst of the nothingness, were two shadowy figures. She was tempted to feel frightened, but something told her there was no need to fear.

As if on cue, the shadows dissipated to reveal two faces she recognized almost instantly.

On the right was a dark haired, blue eyed boy. He wore nothing but black. If Mai could have seen his face, she would guess it was a scowl. "Naru?" She questioned. Her memories still weren't quite put together yet, so she wasn't sure. But the name felt right on her tongue.

"No, Mai." Startled, Mai turned to the other figure, the one who had spoken. Her heart nearly left her chest. A short brown haired, brown eyed girl looked back at her. It was the same image she saw in the mirror every morning.

Mai stepped forward hesitantly and reached for the girl. "You're... me?"

The girl smiled sadly. "You need to go back Mai, before its too late."

"Go back where?"

"Home." The boy answered. "You're not dead yet, you've just temporarily misplaced your body. When you felt yourself dying, some instinct deep inside you took over. Your spirit left you body, somehow preserving yourself." He saw Mai's confused look. "We don't know how it happened. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Do you feel that tug? It's your body pulling you back, listen to it. You need to go back before there's any physical damage. After all, your body thinks its dead right now."

Mai still didn't understand. This was all so bizarre. So, she voiced her thoughts. "I don't understand. Who are you? What is this place?"

"It's okay, Mai." the girl who looked like her answered softly, "You don't need to understand now. You will, in due time. Just know this..."

Suddenly, as if she were being pulled on a string, Mai felt herself drifting away. As if leaving consciousness. Everything was fading.

"Know what?" Mai asked, desperate to hear the words the girl needed to say.

"I was only keeping my promise. I love you."

There was just enough time to hear the girl's words before Mai found herself breathing again.

...

The sudden shock of air entering her lungs left Mai in a terrible state. Her eyes jerked open, panicked, and her hands reached out to grasp something. She was breathing. Hyperventilating was more like it. The first thing she could make sense of was Ayaoko's relieved face being pushed away and replaced by something entirely different.

She was still reaching, desperate for something to hold onto, until she found a pair of large hands grasping hers in a tight grip, and pushing her hands down securely. She met a pair of calm, piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare into her.

"Calm down. Breath." Naru demanded.

His familiar demanding tone calmed Mai down enough to notice her laboring breaths. She still couldn't get enough air to her lungs.

"Naru..." her voice came out a gravely whisper, although it felt as if she were screaming, "I can't..."

_I can't breath,_ she thought. But the words never left her lips because, again, she found herself in darkness. Only, this time at least she knew she was alive.

...

She felt heavy. It wasn't a bad kind of heavy. The heaviness was comforting. It was an existing kind of heaviness. She felt glad to know she was alive, and back in her body, where she belonged.

Mai opened her eyes and attempted to sit up, only to be stopped by wires and tubes connected to her skin and face. She was in a hospital.

Her eyes darted around the unfamiliar hospital room, nervous. She didn't like hospitals. As far as she knew, no one liked hospitals. But it was especially disconcerting to find herself in a dark hospital room, seemingly alone.

She attempted to sit up again, pulling needles and things out of her body in order to do so. She made sure to leave the little tube pumping air into her nose in, though. She wasn't quite ready to give up any source of air. As she was pulling at a needle in her forearm, a noise startled her, and she let out a scream that sounded more like a strangled cat noise than anything.

She looked up and was relieved to find a familiar boy standing in the doorway, staring at her blankly.

"Mai," was all he said. It was all he needed to say. His dark look and glance at all of the wiring she had attempted to break free of said it all.

Mai blushed furiously. "Sorry..." she muttered, and then grasped her throat. It _hurt_. She hadn't noticed until now how bad her throat hurt.

"Don't talk." Naru said.

_Well, look who's trying to be helpful, _Mai thought. _You're a little late with that advice._

She rolled her eyes and Naru sighed, seemingly annoyed. He approached her and took a hold of her arm.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Naru glared. "Didn't I tell you not to talk?" He shook his head and went back to her arm. "What does it look like I'm doing, Mai? I'm fixing your mess."

Mai scowled and pulled her arm away. Sighing again, Naru held his hand out expectantly. He sure was used to getting his way... "Do you want me to have to call the nurse back in here, or will you let me put this IV back in myself?"

Frowning further in sudden defeat, Mai handed her arm back over to Naru. How did he know how to put an IV in anyway? She would have asked, but it didn't seem worth the extra effort.

They settled into an awkward, but strangely comforting silence. Until it was broken by a certain narcissist. "You will be explaining everything you know tomorrow, and don't think to keep anything from me."

With those words, Naru stepped away from the hospital bed and settled down into a seat against the wall. "Go to sleep Mai."

Then Oliver Davis closed his eyes. Mai did the same, never thinking to question why Naru had stayed in her hospital room over night. And never noticing that, as soon as Mai had settled down to sleep, Naru had opened his eyes and begun to watch her all through the night.

...

A/N I know. I know... I still haven't explained everything, but I promise things will begin to make sense in the next chapter. For those of you who have stuck with my choppy story and awful writing... thank you so very much.

**Help! **_Guys, I am doing a school project and I need your guys' help. There is a link to the survey in the summary of this story and on my profile page._ _If you have an extra ten minutes and you care about me :( please take this survey.** It's for a good cause! **And you can even share the link with other people to take :)_

Thank you.


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